Press Release - February 7, 2017

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

SVCF Awards $1.3 Billion To Nonprofit Organizations In 2016

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In partnership with its individual and corporate donors, Silicon Valley Community Foundation awarded a total of $1.3 billion to charities in 2016, benefiting thousands of people and causes in the Bay Area, across the United States and around the world.

"Silicon Valley Community Foundation celebrates our 10th anniversary this year, and we are thrilled and humbled that 2016 marks the first time we have made more than $1 billion in grants in a single year,” said Emmett D. Carson, Ph.D., CEO and president of SVCF. “Over the last 10 years, SVCF has granted $4.3 billion in grants to nonprofit organizations."

SVCF made more than 108,000 grants in 2016, including those awarded by individuals, families and companies through advised funds, and grants awarded through corporate matching gift programs.

SVCF received $1.38 billion in new gifts from individual and corporate donors in 2016, bringing its charitable assets under management to approximately $8.2 billion. These results demonstrate the tremendous generosity of Silicon Valley philanthropists and their desire to make a positive difference in their local communities and around the world.

Of SVCF’s overall $1.3 billion grantmaking total, $840 million was awarded to nonprofits in the nine San Francisco Bay Area counties, making SVCF the largest single grantmaker to Silicon Valley regional charities. SVCF also continued its strong tradition of international grantmaking, awarding a total of $15 million to charities in 65 countries outside the U.S.

SVCF’s corporate donors continued to make a significant impact on the issues they care about most. Corporate advised funds accounted for $49.7 million in grants.

“SVCF was able to grant a record-breaking $1.3 billion last year to thousands of charitable organizations, all because of the generosity and commitment to community of our donors. The grants we made support nonprofits all over the Bay Area, the state, the nation and the world,” Carson said. In the coming months, a catalog of all SVCF’s 2016 grants will be available on the organization’s website. “We look forward to working with our individual, family and corporate donors in 2017 to expand their philanthropy and make a positive difference in many important causes.”

Among SVCF’s accomplishments in 2016:

SVCF hosted its first Innovation Conference on October 9-11, 2016, in San Francisco. The conference, attended by more than 300 people from eight countries, addressed the ways that technology is changing the philanthropic sector. The event served as the first in a series of events by the SVCF Learning Institute, a nonprofit education and technical assistance arm of SVCF launched in 2015.

About Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Silicon Valley Community Foundation advances innovative philanthropic solutions to challenging problems. As the largest community foundation in the world, we engage donors and corporations from Silicon Valley, across the country and around the globe to make our region and world better for all. Our passion for helping people and organizations achieve their philanthropic dreams has created a global philanthropic enterprise committed to the belief that possibilities start here. Learn more at siliconvalleycf.org.